Currents
by itstheurgetofall
Summary: Dallas and Curly get caught somewhere they shouldn't be. Darry and Tim are left to deal with them. Warning: Non-sexual spanking of minors


**Summary: Dally and Curly get caught somewhere they shouldn't be. Warning: Non-sexual spanking of minors**

 **AN: I'm not quite sure of Dally's age, so I made him 16, which I think is fairly accurate. And Curly was 15, I believe. Tim, I always thought, was around Darry's age, so 20ish. Also, let's all just pretend that the end of the book just didn't happen, okay?**

Dallas was walking around downtown, bored out of his skull. He had done everything from pick a fight to kick rocks, and nothing was keeping his interest.

"Christ, it's hot as hell out." He muttered to himself.

"Why don't we go take a dip, then?" Dally turned around at the voice.

"Curly?" Dally said, seeing the boy in question leaning up against a wall in the shade, smoking a cigarette.

"Present." He said, flicking the cigarette to the ground and putting it out. He came over to Dally. "So, you wanna go?" He asked.

"What'd you have in mind?" Dally asked, pulling out his own cigarette and lighting it up.

"How about that old river down by the DX, know the one?" he asked. Dally knew which one Curly meant instantly. He was talking about the river that was known for it's awful currents. A bunch of people had drowned there over the years, so finally it had been shut down. It was now illegal to swim there, not to mention downright dangerous and dumb.

"I'm in." Dally said instantly. Curly grinned and they headed off to the river.

-Line Break-

When they got to the river, they both started stripping down. They took off both their shirts and jeans, just left in their boxers now. Curly wades in first, with Dally not far behind.

"Shit, it's cold." Dally complained.

"What were you expecting, a heated pool?" Curly snorted, wading out a bit farther until he could swim. Dally, not one to be left behind, swam out towards the teen.

"Hey Curly?"

"Yeah?"

"Didn't Tim chew you out a couple weeks ago for swimming here?"

Curly grinned, treading water. "Yeah, he laid into my ass good for it. Why?"

Dallas swam out a bit farther, Curly following. "Just wondering why you wanted to swim here instead of the swimming hole near Bucks. I'm guessin' you picked here because you're sticking it to Tim?"

Curly laughed. "Hell yeah, Timmy needs to stop being so damned bossy all the time."

Dallas rolled his eyes. Curly was always trying to show Tim he didn't need looking after, and it never seemed to work. Which begged the question, why did Dally join him today?

Just as Dallas was starting to think this might not have been such a great idea, Curly went under. The teen was there one second and then underwater the next. Apparently they had reached the dangerous currents area.

Dally wasn't just gonna leave the kid to drown, so he dove underwater to grab him, coming back up a minute later with the a spluttering Curly. The youngest Shepard was coughing and gasping for air as Dallas attempted to swim both of them back to shore. He thought he saw a couple of figures on the beach, but it could just be the water in his eyes.

They were getting closer to shore when Dally felt a current start to pull him, and by proxy Curly, under.

The two went underwater for approximately half a second before he felt himself being pulled out of the water. He was tugged to shore where he blearily opened his eyes, coming face to face with Darry Curtis.

He turned onto his side, feeling like he was coughing up a lung with the amount of water he was heaving. He looked over and saw Curly doing the same thing with Tim by his side, a worried expression on his normally stoic face. Soda stood off to the side, still dressed in his DX uniform. He looked over the scene, seemingly making sure they were alright, then headed back to work.

Dallas finally managed to catch his breath, taking the offered hand from Darry to get help standing. He noticed that both Tim and Darry were sopping wet, clearly having been the ones to tug him and Curly from the water.

"Thanks, man." Dallas said, running a hand through his sopping wet hair. He grabbed his clothing off the ground and put it back on.

Darry glared at him. "What the hell were you two doing swimming out here?" He began his lecture, clearly furious.

"It's hot out, Darry, we were just going for a quick swim." Dally said, wincing a little at the look of pure fury being sent his way.

"You two could have been killed. If Soda hadn't seen you from the DX and called us, you both would have drowned."

Dallas huffed, crossing his arms and glancing over at the Shepards. They had moved a little farther away so Dally couldn't hear them anymore. It looked like Tim was giving Curly a similar scolding, to which the fifteen year old did not seem respondent. The kid yelled something at his older brother, which Tim evidently did not appreciate, if the way he grabbed the boy's ear and dragged him off towards their car was any evidence.

"Let's go, Dallas." Darry said, not grabbing his ear like Tim had, but leading the younger one to his truck with a firm hand around his bicep.

Darry drove them back to the Curtis house silently. The older man was clearly pissed off with Dallas, and he didn't want to say anything to make the situation worse.

They pulled up to the home, both boys getting out of the car and going inside. Pony wasn't home, probably out with Johnny or something.

Darry went into his room for a moment and came back, having changed into dry clothes. He tossed a pair of pajama bottoms and a shirt at Dallas. Both were too big, but the boy changed into them anyway.

"So?" Darry said after Dallas had changed, standing in the living room with folded arms.

Dally gave him a raised eyebrow look. "So what?"

"So what the hell were you thinking today? I know you knew how dangerous swimming there would be because I had told you before not to go anywhere near there." Darry scolded. "And yet you carelessly risked your life."

Dallas attempted to look chagrined, albeit failing miserably.

"Darry, come on, it was hot out, we just wanted to go for a swim."

"So why not go to the swimming hole?"

Dally shrugged. "We didn't think of that."

Darry sighed in annoyance. "Look Dal, you know how I feel about pulling stupid crap like this. You nearly died. We've talked about putting yourself in danger before, haven't we?"

Dallas blushed a little. "Yeah, we talked about it." he mumbled.

"And what did I say would happen the next time you did something like this?"

"Aw come on, man, you weren't serious about that!" Dally complained.

"I was completely serious. Now what did I say would happen?" Darry prompted, lifting an eyebrow.

"You said you'd put me over your knee." Dallas mumbled.

Darry nodded, sitting on the couch. "That's right. Now come over here."

"Aw come on, Darry, this is ridiculous." Dallas said, making no move to go over to the other guy.

"No, what's ridiculous is me having to haul your ass out of a river when you know better than to be in it."

Dallas tried to think of a way out of this, finally coming up with, "You're not my brother, you can't do this."

"I may not be your brother, but you are a part of my family, and I care about you very much. Now get over here." Darry said, unwavering. And, if Dally was being entirely honest, Darry had every right to do this. He was the only authority that Dallas had ever really had, hell, he was the only authority any of the boys had.

Dally decided to take it like a man and went over to the older boy. Once he was within reach, Darry tugged him over his lap, causing Dallas to squirm a bit in discomfort, because seriously, this was not an ideal position.

"You could have very easily died today, Dallas, all because you were being careless." Darry said, bringing his hand down in the first firm smack.

Dally bit back a groan. It hurt more than he had expected, although Darry was called Superman for a reason.

Darry continued, not lecturing anymore, seemingly thinking that Dally knew why he was in this position. After a few dozen more swats, Dally started making distress sounds.

"Darry, that's enough, I won't do it again." Dally said, voice hitching a little.

"Oh, I know you won't do it again. I'm going to make sure of that." Darry said firmly, emphasizing his point with several well placed smacks.

Dally hid his head in his arms, not wanting to look like a wuss and cry in front of his gang member.

Darry continued on for several more minutes, Dallas silently enduring with only a few tears slipping out. The older man then pulled a dirty trick, in Dally's book, by tipping him forward and starting in on his sit spots and thighs.

"Darry! Ah! Shit, stop!" Dally complained. "That hurts!"

"It's supposed to. And if you ever do this again, I'm going to take a belt to your bare ass." Darry said, continuing with reigning down pain on the teen's backside.

Dallas finally started crying faintly, and when Darry noticed the shaking shoulder, he stopped.

Darry helped him stand up, Dally quickly wiping his face off to attempt to hide the tears that had fallen. Darry placed a hand on his shoulder, looking concerned.

"You okay, buddy?" Darry asked gently. Dallas took a shuddering breath and nodded. Darry smiled a little before pulling him into a hug.

Dallas hugged him back for a minute before pulling away. Darry ruffled his hair. "You can go lie down in the guest room, if you'd like." he offered.

Dallas decided to take him up on that, heading to the guest room.

**SWITCH TO CURLY AND TIM**

Curly gasped for breath as he lay on the dirt shore. His head was still spinning, almost as if it were full of water itself. Tim was patting him on the back, trying to help him get the water out of his lungs. When he finally managed to catch his breath, he stood on shaky legs, Tim steadying him.

"You okay?" he asked, handing Curly his clothes. The boy nodded, still a little winded, and put the clothes on over his shaking and wet body.

"Good. Now what the fuck were you thinking? Do you have a damn death wish?" Tim asked, losing his concerned face instantly and shifting back into his more typical 'pissed big brother' mode.

Curly rolled his eyes, shifting back into his own 'I-don't-give-a-shit little brother' mode. "Yeah, Timmy, that's what this is about. I'm suicidal."

Tim glared at him. "Now is really not the time to be a fucking smartass, Charles." Curly winced at the use of his real name.

"Fuckin' hell, Tim, I just went for a swim. How should I have known that we'd get drowned?" Curly said, his own expression getting more pissed off.

"First off, watch your fucking language-" Curly cut him off indignantly. "Shit Tim, you literally curse every other sentence!"

"I'm an adult, you're a goddamn kid, and a dumb one at that. So cut it out. And as I was saying, you should've known this would happen because I _told_ you this would happen. Didn't we have this conversation just a couple weeks ago when you swam here?" Tim said, crossing his arms.

Curly mimicked his pose, crossing his own arms. "Ya know, despite what you seem to think, I'm not five and don't need you bossin' me around."

Tim snorted. "Coulda fooled me, what with your runnin' off and disobeyin' me. When I tell ya not to do something, you'd damn sure better listen." he said, voice stern.

Curly started getting more pissed off the longer he listened to his brother lecture. "You know what, fuck you, Tim! Where the fuck do you get off bein' all high and mighty, this is fucking bull-" his rant was interrupted by his brother snagging him by the ear and marching him off towards his car.

"Fuck! Tim, lemme go!" he hollered, struggling to get out of the vice like grip Tim had on his ear.

"If I have to tell you one more time to watch your language, I swear I'll wash your damn mouth out." Tim growled, tossing Curly in the passenger seat. Curly flushed bright red at the threat, glaring at his brother who got in the driver's seat, starting the car.

"You better wipe that look off your face real fast before I wipe it off for ya, kid." Tim said, starting the car. Curly had the self preservation to at least aim the glare out the window.

Curly found himself getting angrier the closer they got to home. Tim had no right to treat him like this, and Curly sure as hell wasn't gonna just roll over and take the lecture that he was sure was coming.

Tim pulled up to their home, and before he'd even fully stopped the car, Curly was hopping out and slamming the door as hard as he could. He stormed inside their house, starting to go upstairs when Tim came inside.

"Don't you move another muscle. We are not done talking, so get your ass back here." Tim sounded as pissed as Curly felt, which didn't bode well for how this talk was gonna go.

Curly turned around and stomped back down, going into the living room. "Great, let's talk." he said sarcastically.

The two brothers stood facing off in their family room, both scowling. Tim broke the silence. "Do you have any clue how stupid this was? You came so freaking close to drowning, Curly. And don't try to give me that bull that you didn't realize it was dangerous, because I told you it was. I explicitly told you not to go in that water, and what do you do? You deliberately disobey me by goin' in it."

"Christ, Timmy, you act like your mother. You can't just tell me not to do something and expect me to listen. You're not in charge."

"Yeah, actually, I am in charge, seeing as how you're fifteen and I'm twenty. And I can sure as hell expect to be obeyed when I give an order. If you choose to not obey me, then you're just gonna hafta deal with the consequences." Tim said, his voice taking on a more authoritative tone the longer he talked. Curly scoffed, but his brother ignored him. "The last time you went out in that river, I gave you a scolding and grounded you for the weekend. Apparently, that wasn't enough for you to learn your lesson. That might be partially my fault for bein' so easy on you last time, but I promise, I ain't gonna make that mistake again."

Curly frowned, not liking where this was going. Tim pulled out his blade from his boot, passing it to the kid. "Go on and cut me a switch from outside."

The young teen's eyes widened instantly. "Tim! No!" he said, stepping back in horror.

"It seems like the only time you ever listen is when you're over my knee, and this is something you have got to listen about. So, I'm calling in the big guns. Now go cut the switch." Tim ordered.

Curly gave him a pleading look. Despite his bravado that Tim wasn't in charge of him and couldn't order him around, it wasn't a strange occurrence for him to be getting his backside handed to him by the man. But, his brother rarely ever used anything other than his hand, least of all a switch. For the first time, Curly started to consider how serious his brother might actually be about this whole thing.

"Get moving, Charles." Tim said sternly, pointing at the door. The teen mournfully shuffled outside, going over to one of the large trees in the yard and starting to cut a thin switch off. He was so mortified at the thought that someone was going to see him and know what he was doing, that he didn't bother stalling outside, just hurrying in with the weapon of choice.

He handed the switch over to his brother, feeling like he had just sealed his own fate. Tim nodded in approval of the one he had cut.

"Pants and underwear down, bend over the couch." Tim said. Curly groaned.

"Come on Timmy, do I really gotta take my pants down?" he pleaded, not too proud to beg his older brother for some mercy at this point.

"Have you ever been allowed to keep your pants up?" Tim asked, eyebrow raised. Curly slowly shook his head. "Then why would this be any different? You earned this, now get to it."

Curly sniffled miserably, hoping to garner some sympathy points, and shoved his pants and underwear down, bending over the couch. It was strange, having to bend over something, normally he was just across Tim's lap. He decided he really didn't like the bending over, it felt very impersonal.

He felt his brother step up behind him, placing a hand on his back, before raising that damned weapon. Curly yelped as the first stripe landed. "Tim! Shit, that hurts!" Curly complained, attempting to stand up. His ass was still wet from the water, and the switch stung like a bunch of bee stings on it.

Tim held him down with ease. "It's supposed to hurt. And what did I say about that language? Watch it, Curly." he warned. Tim began bringing the switch down a few more times. By the fifth time, Curly's breathing was a little more ragged. By the eighth he was hollering with every smack. And by twelve he was crying.

"Don't you ever put yourself in danger like that again. Do you have any idea how worried I was? The next time you pull this kind of stunt, think about how sore your ass will be once I'm through, and then don't do it." Tim lectured, now on smack twenty. Curly was openly sobbing, not caring at this point about looking brave in front of his tough big brother.

Tim gave him another five, right across his sit spots, before stopping. Curly stayed bent over, sobbing into the couch cushion, while Tim started rubbing his back a little.

"Alright, that's enough, Curls. No need to work yourself up." Tim said gently, helping his brother stand and replace his clothing. Curly rubbed his eyes with one hand and his ass with the other, causing Tim to smile.

"S'not funny." Curly mumbled, pouting. Tim nodded, losing the smile.

"No, it's not funny. I was real worried, kiddo. Ya scared the shit outta me today." Tim said, tugging the boy into a hug. Curly buried his face in his brother's t-shirt. "Please don't pull this kinda crap again, Curls, alright?"

Curly nodded. "M'sorry." he mumbled. Tim nodded, like he knew that already.

"It's alright, let's just get you to bed." he said, leading the young boy to the room they shared. Both boys changed into sweats, Curly laying down after on his stomach. He was not surprised when Tim sat down beside him, leaning against the headboard. Curly rolled a little so his head was in his brother's lap, Tim carding his fingers through his curly hair, and both Shepard's falling asleep like that.


End file.
